


Happy Heart

by The_Pen_Dragon



Category: Kingdom Hearts
Genre: A lot of Sora trying to cope with everything, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst, Basically it's how I think KH3 should have gone, Horror Elements, Lea is also a sad boy tm, Many MANY Disney worlds, Near Death Experiences, Near Drowning, Other, Post DDD, Save These Children, So much trauma, Sora doesn't end up with anyone in this relationship wise, a lot of sadness and trauma, but I wanted so badly for KH3 to focus on the importance of friendships, but you could project sokai and soriku onto it REALLY easily, kairi and riku are both dorks who love their best friend, so thats what I'm doing here, sora is a bi disaster, trauma for everyone
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-02-10
Updated: 2019-02-13
Packaged: 2019-03-16 06:05:10
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 5
Words: 13,631
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13630203
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/The_Pen_Dragon/pseuds/The_Pen_Dragon
Summary: Sora has always been a constant ray of sunshine and optimism, so what happens when that sunshine clouds over? He's weak, and he needs his strength back before the final battle, but how can he find it? Riku is still battling himself in a lot of ways, Kairi is just learning how to enter the ring at all, and Lea doesn't know what to do with himself.AKA: I write Kingdom Hearts 3 from start to finish and give them the story they deserved.That's right, every world (plus some), with a refined and polished version of the story I felt like they were trying to present. I also give Kairi an entire personality.Told from multiple perspectives, each chapter is marked by which character's perspective is being told.





	1. Side Sora: Weakened

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Edit Note:  
> I was so steamed about how KH3 ended that I decided to rewrite my own version from scratch, and Happy Heart was a pretty good base!
> 
> So I've modified the already existed chapters a bit, and will be carrying on from there! Major KH3 spoilers ahead.

Sora sat in the little bedroom Yen Sid had given him to stay in, knees pulled to his chest as he thumbed over the lucky charm Kairi had given him. He was staying in the tower for awhile with the others while they prepared to find the other lights...wherever they were. Everyone was sure of these three people, they had disappeared a long time ago, but everyone was working on a way to find them now.

Sora had seen them, he had seen them in his mind-no, in that eternal nightmare made from his mind. He closed his eyes and the names just kind of floated behind his lids, Terra, Aqua, Ventus. He felt like he knew them, and he missed them. He had never even met these people! Why did he feel so hurt just thinking about them?

He whined and shook his head, opening his eyes and electing to not think about it right now. Sora filed that under ‘things I’d rather not confront my feelings on’, right along with the mysterious black haired girl, Roxas’ memories, and Riku’s past...errors. He sighed and flopped back onto his bed, holding the charm at arms’ length above his head.

“My friends are my power,” he mumbled quietly, turning the trinket over in his hand. “I’ll always be there for them, no matter what. Just like they...” he trailed off, letting his arm fall back onto his chest.

His friends actually left him a lot. Riku especially. He had forgiven him for everything that had happened between them, and he didn’t blame Riku for a lot of the mistakes he made, but it didn’t stop him from having nightmares about the past.

Nightmares where Riku didn’t just throw him that wooden sword, he ran him through with it, watching coldly as Sora tumbled backwards off the icy cliff, falling further and further-

His thoughts were thankfully interrupted as his door swung open, “Sora, we’re doing keyblade training! Wanna join?”

It was Kairi, her hair pulled back in a pony tail and a bright grin on her face. She waggled her flowery keyblade excitedly towards Sora, “c’mon! I want to see the master at work, it’ll help me train better!”

Sora sat up and tucked the charm away, a happy smile on his face, “Kairi! Of course! You know I wouldn’t miss watching you and Lea get your butts kicked in training!”

Kairi snorted, “hey! Rude!”  
Sora grinned cheekily, all his dreary thoughts pushed to the back of his head again as he hurried out the door with Kairi. The two laughing and lightly hitting their keyblades against one another as they made their way to Merlin’s training room.

Merlin had set up this space especially for training. Ever since Lea and Kairi got their keyblades, he had been working on setting it up with Riku. It was a big, round room with training dummies, hanging lanterns that would spit magic attacks, and some inexplicably floating furniture. Sora beamed at the big area, fondly remembering his own time training in a place like this two years ago.

“Wow! It looks just like I remember!” He said, reaching out and poking the leg of a chair as it floated by.

“You know this is a different place, right Sora?” Riku’s voice came from behind him.

Sora whirled around, turning his gaze up to meet Riku’s, “I know that! I just meant it looks the same as the other place!”

Riku shook his head and lightly poked Sora in the forehead, “whatever you say, genius.”

Kairi giggled and shook her head, “You two better behave! This is about me and Lea training after all!”

Riku nodded and ruffled Sora’s hair, earning a squawk from the shorter boy, “don’t worry Kai, I think we’ve both calmed down a lot in the last couple years. We’re just here to watch and give tips.”

Sora nodded, “we’re gonna be the best teachers ever! Riku’s an actual master, you can’t get better than that!”

Riku rubbed the back of his head, “hey now, you’re just as good as me Sora, you know that’s not the reason you didn’t-“

“Let’s not talk about it!” Sora interrupted, “I just want to focus on helping Kairi and Axel-er, Lea.”

Riku simply nodded, he understood Sora not wanting to bring up that absolute terror he’d been through. Riku didn’t like thinking about it either. Kairi looked a little worried, but didn’t say anything. Instead she looked around, trying to distract herself from the sudden awkward silence.

Fortunately, they were only left standing there uncomfortably for about thirty seconds, then Lea burst in, hair also pulled back into a messy ponytail, hit likely too warm black coat still on. Did he ever change clothes? Sora thought he might even SLEEP in the thing.

“WOOO! Kairi! Baby, are you ready for this? Cause I am psyched!” He exclaimed, throwing his arms up over his head.

Riku shook his head, unamused, and Sora jumped up too, caught up in Lea’s enthusiasm, “Yeah! Woo!”

Kairi shook her head and rolled her eyes, seeming at least partly amused, “don’t call me baby again, and yeah I’m excited!”

About then, Merlin showed up. Not to say he came in through the doorway, no, he just...showed up. In the center of the room, looking about as startled as everyone else to find himself there.

“Uh, hey Merlin!” Sora greeted.

“What are you doing in my bedroom?” Merlin asked confusedly, looking around at everyone.  
“No-Merlin this is the training room, you and I set it up, remember?” Riku offered.

Merlin blinked a few times, then adjusted his glasses, “ah yes, right right, training! Sora is training today then?”

“No no, not me! Kairi and Lea!” Sora said, motioning to the two bewildered red-heads.

Merlin squinted at them, “...that’s one tall woman,” he said simply, looking at Lea.

“Okay first of all-“ Lea started, but Merlin cut him off.

“Right! The fire girls are training! Sora has special training later!”

“I am NOT-“

“Special training?” Sora asked, cutting off Lea’s protest once more.

“Yes yes, to get you back in fighting form! Can’t exactly do much as you are now, all weak and drained,” Merlin said.

“Merlin, I don’t think you should just blatantly-“ Riku tried to say, but Merlin was still babbling.

“That darkness did you in good son! Hoo boy, the fact you can even still swing that blade around is a feat in itself!” He chortled and clapped his hands together, “being turned into a lifeless husk will do that to you! Heh! Anyway, let’s train Kairi and her sister!”

Sora was very quiet now, shifting on his feet as Lea complained loudly nearby that he wasn’t a girl. Riku looked down at Sora, brow furrowed in worry.

“Sora, are you-“

“I’m fine!” Sora insisted, shooting a smile towards Riku, “he’s right after all, I’m sure I could use a little training to get my strength back up! It’s really not such a big deal, I’m safe after all. So it’s no big deal.”

Riku looked at him uncertainly, “but Sora...it is a big deal, it’s okay you know...to feel...bad. About that stuff.”

Sora shook his head and looked up at Riku, his bright grin not betraying the heavy feeling in his chest, “I’m okay Riku, I promise. Come on! We can’t teach Kairi and Lea if we aren’t watching them!”

Riku still seemed uncertain, but it wasn’t like he was stellar at talking about feelings, so he let it go for now, turning his attention to Kairi and Lea.

The two redheads spent the next hour thoroughly failing at their training. Kairi managed to hit away a chair as it flew at her, but two plates then proceeded to smack her straight in the face. Lea was good with his fire magic, but as soon as a large teapot drenched him in water, he was pretty much useless. He swung the keyblade fruitlessly, only hitting away about a fourth of the targets. He was pinned to the ground by a heavy table, and Riku had to run over and pull it off of him.

Afterwards, the four keyblade wielders sat in the tower’s dining hall, laughing about the experience.

“I don’t get it, I’ve seen you fight, how’d you get so bad?” Sora giggled, nudging Lea’s arm from across the table.

“Hey now, chakrams are a lot easier to work with than this key thing! I can’t throw this, and it doesn’t spit fire at will. It’s very annoying,” Lea huffed.

“Well, if all the other organization members that came back got as lousy at fighting as you, then I’d say we can beat them easy,” Riku snorted.

“Uncalled for,” Lea grunted.

Kairi snorted, “I think it was fun! We’ll get better in no time Lea, we can spar with each other for more practice. It’ll be a piece of cake before long!”

“How can you say that when your face is still bleeding?” Lea chuckled, pointing to the gash on Kairi’s nose, which was starting to bleed through the bandage.

“It’s part of the experience!” Kairi huffed, “get used to a few scratches here and there you big baby!” She swiped a napkin off the table and held it to her nose.

“Are you sure you don’t want me to use cure on that?” Sora asked, frowning at Kairi.

“It’s just a little scratch, besides, I’ll feel cool if it scars!” Kairi replied.

“You’ll feel cool about a scar you got from getting nailed in the face by a flying tea cup?” Riku asked.

“Screw you! Scars look cool regardless of context!” Kairi huffed.

Sora giggled again, “scars DO look pretty cool.”

Riku shook his head, “Well I have more than enough scars myself. But whatever floats your boat Kai.”

Kairi blinked, “oh yeah, you guys were gone so long, I guess I didn’t even think about it, you both must have awesome battle scars!”

Sora and Riku both looked at each other, they definitely had quite a few scars, but they would neither one call them awesome. Not when they each came with some rather unpleasant memories.

“I uh, I mean, I have this one from where Xigbar punctured my arm with his weird needle weapon,” Sora said, pointing out a nearly diamond shaped scar on his upper arm.

Kairi grimaced, “Oh, Yeah, I guess your scars are all kind of...traumatic.”

“I got a scar from running into a bookshelf,” Lea offered, trying to lighten the mood.

It worked pretty well, as everyone started laughing, even Riku chuckled a bit. Kairi snorted and motioned for Lea to show her, to which he pointed to his jaw.

“Aw, there’s no scar there! You liar!” Kairi huffed.

“What? There totally is! It happened at headquarters, and I-oh, I was still a nobody, I guess the scars didn’t carry over back to my real body,” he said. He looked sad for a second, but then he grinned, “woo! That means I have a blank slate again!”

“Okay okay, but you still gotta tell us how you scarred yourself on a bookshelf!” Sora snorted.

Lea laughed, “Aw come on, you remember that Roxas! You were...there,” he trailed off and then snapped his mouth shut.

The air suddenly felt very tense, and no one was laughing anymore. Riku coughed awkwardly, Kairi just silently patted her nose with the napkin, and Sora stared at Lea, eyes wide and sad. Lea stared back a minute, before quickly getting up.

“I uh, made things awkward, so I’m just gonna go,” he mumbled, turning and hurrying off.

Sora looked down at the table, fingers thrumming against the wood as he stared at it emptily. His chest felt tight again, realizing that Roxas’ best friend was basically stuck around the boy who stole his best friend away. He felt like the worst part of it though, the worst part was that he DID remember it happening. Roxas’ memory flashed in his mind, and he could see it. He could see Lea walking towards some room, reading a book. He heard Roxas call out to him too late and watched Lea slam face first into the corner of a bookcase. Then he heard Roxas absolutely howling with laughter, and saw through his eyes as he approached Lea, snickering and asking if he was okay.

Riku’s hand on his shoulder snapped Sora out of the memory, and he looked over in confusion. Riku was gazing at him worriedly, and Kairi was right there too, also looking worried.

“What’s the matter?” He asked, gaze flicking between Kairi and Riku.

Riku lightly touched a thumb to Sora’s cheek, “you’re...crying.”

Sora blinked and wiped at his face, “I..? Huh?”

“What happened?” Kairi asked gently, “you were just staring into space...then suddenly you were crying. You wouldn’t answer us when we tried to get your attention.”

Sora shook his head, “it was...nothing. I must’ve zoned out, you know me, such an airhead.”

“But, Sora,” Riku pressed, but Sora waved him off, standing up.

“It’s nothing, okay? Don’t worry about it, I’m just fine!” Sora insisted.

Riku didn’t look like he was going to drop it this time, so Sora just hurried off out of the room before he could be questioned further. He kept up his fast walk until he was back in his room. He locked the door behind him, and then collapsed onto his bed, pressing his face into the pillow and screwing his eyes shut tight to keep from crying anymore. He wasn’t even sure at this point if it was him or Roxas who was sad, maybe both of them? All he knew was that his heart hurt, and nothing seemed to be able to fix it.


	2. Side Riku: Emotional Turmoil

Riku watched his friend run off, feeling a swirling mix of emotions, but mainly worry. He could tell Sora was very not okay, but the boy seemed to be adamant about not talking about it. He sighed to himself and looked over to Kairi, who also seemed worried about Sora.

“Do you think he’s okay?” Kairi asked.

“To be completely honest? I don’t think anyone who went through what he did would be okay,” Riku replied.

“What exactly did he go through? You two never talk about what happened,” Kairi pressed.

“It’s best not to talk about it,” Riku answered, “it’s upsetting for both of us.”

“Riku, if you don’t talk about these things, they’re going to eat you up inside, you have to share your feelings once and awhile, it’s unhealthy not to!” Kairi said.

“You should go clean up you nose,” Riku said, “I’m going to check on Sora.”

Kairi gave a frustrated noise as Riku walked off. He knew she had good intentions, and hell, she was probably even right, but he wasn’t in the mood. He’d perfected keeping everything bottled inside for the last two and a half years, he wasn’t even sure how to begin to un-bottle things.

He tried going into Sora’s room, but found that the stubborn boy had locked his door. He grunted and knocked, “it's Riku.”

He got no answer, and after trying for a few minutes, he finally gave up. Maybe Sora needed some time by himself.  He sighed and shoved his hands into his pockets, heading off down the hall. 

He spent the next hour or so trying to distract himself from worrying. He read the same page of a book about forty times, burnt some lunch, and tried balancing his keyblade on the palm of his hand. That last one just resulted in him mistakenly cutting his hand a few times. Finally he gave up trying to distract himself and went back to Sora’s room.

“Sora please, I’m worried,” he tried, knocking again, “Sora I-“ he stopped when the door opened, and Donald was standing there.

The two looked at each other for a minute, and finally Riku said, “Sora, you’ve changed.”

Donald gave an irritated garbling sound and waddled past Riku, “he’s not in there. I’m looking for him too.”

Riku blinked slowly, taking a minute to understand Donald’s near incomprehensible speech. He nodded slowly, “right. Um, any idea where he went?”

“If I knew, I wouldn’t still be looking, stupid!” Donald squawked. Then he shook his head and angrily waddled off.

Riku huffed and rolled his eyes, if Sora was friends with that duck, he could be friends with literally anyone. He sighed and walked into Sora’s room, poking around like the snoop he was. He found a stuffed animal of a puppy and a pair of underwear that somehow ended up under Sora’s bed, but other than that there was nothing interesting. 

He sighed and took a minute to take in the way Sora had decorated the plain little room. They’d only been here for a few days, but the boy had already plastered a ridiculous amount of stickers all over the walls and taped a picture of himself, Riku, and Kairi right above his bed. Riku smiled at that and sat on Sora’s bed. He was so much like a little kid sometimes, it was adorable. He flopped back against his friend’s bed and closed his eyes, thinking over where he might’ve gone. He thought about how determined and stubborn Sora was, always trying harder than anyone. He never gave up, no matter how many times he was beaten.

Riku’s eyes snapped open again, it was suddenly so obvious. There was only one place he would be. Riku got up and raced down the hall, straight up the stairs and into Merlin’s training room. Sure enough, there was Sora. 

He was gripping his keyblade tightly, panting heavily as he batted away a barrage of plates and cups. He looked to be doing pretty well, hitting away every target that came at him, blue eyes burning with determination as he sliced clean through a table as it flew at him.

Riku was impressed he wasn’t too drained for this rigorous workout, but then he noticed something, Sora was shaking. Not just a little either, his fingers were actually trembling around the handle of his keyblade. His breaths were ragged as he fought off each flying object. The longer Riku watched, the less stable Sora seemed. Sora was starting to stumble a bit, frustrated tears pricking the corners of his eyes as he stubbornly stayed upright, shaking arms swinging at target after target. 

Riku finally decided he needed to step in when he realized Sora wasn’t going to stop until he literally collapsed. He hurried over to him, wrapping an arm around him and pulling him to his chest. He let the flying plates just hit him in the back, they didn’t hurt much. Sora protested immediately, unsteady arms batting at Riku’s chest as he dragged him out of the room.

“Riku! What are you doing?! I was training!” Sora complained, looking up at him with an angry pout.

“You shouldn’t strain yourself right now,” Riku said simply, his flat voice not conveying just how worried he was.

“But I’ve only been in there ten minutes! I have to go at least a little longer!” Sora insisted, trying in vain to wriggle out of Riku’s grip.

Riku frowned, he’d only been at it ten minutes? From the way he was shaking and stumbling, Riku was sure he’d been in there for an hour at least. He really was drained. Sora stopped wriggling after a few moments and just looked up at Riku.

“What’s that look for? I can take care of myself Riku! You don’t always have to protect me you know!” He said.

Riku looked at him uncertainly, still not letting go. Sora’s expression shifted from mild irritation to downright rage. It took Riku so off guard that when Sora shoved him, he actually let go.

“I’m not weaker than you!” Sora yelled, “We fought together! We saved the worlds together! I’m just as strong as you are!”

Riku blinked in shock, not sure where all this was coming from. He never thought Sora was weaker than him, not since they were younger and he was dumber. The next thing Sora said though, it really caught him off guard.

“I’M NOT JUST THE DELIVERY BOY!”

Riku’s eyes widened, and even Sora looked a little surprised at what he had said. He took a step back, but he was still unsteady, and now that he was more startled than angry, his legs didn’t seem to want to hold him up. He fell backwards with a grunt, landing on his butt.

Riku just stood there, silent. Had Sora been upset about that all this time? Not that he blamed him, Riku had been cruel back then, but...he didn’t think it still bothered Sora this much. He thought he’d moved on.

“Sora...I...” he started, but he couldn’t find any words to finish that sentence.

Sora looked up at him, then down at the ground, “I’m sorry...I’m sorry Riku, I didn’t mean...I...I know you’re not like that now.”

“...I didn’t realize how badly I’d hurt you,” Riku managed. He moved over to sit beside Sora, tentatively placing a hand on his leg. “I’m...I don’t even think saying how sorry I am will cut it, but...I really am.”

Sora sniffed and leaned against his friend, “‘s not your fault, you were being manipulated.”

“I could’ve been less of a dick about it,” Riku replied.

Sora giggled a little, “Yeah, you could have.”

Riku sighed and wrapped his arms back around Sora, pulling him close. Sora tensed for a second, but then wound his arms up around Riku's waist, cuddling against him. He whined softly, pressing his face into Riku's side. Riku rubbed his back gently with one hand, feeling incredibly bad, but not knowing what he should say, or if he should even say anything at all.

“I just...” Sora sighed quietly, he sounded like he was trying hard not to cry, “I don't want to lose...this. I...I finally got to be the hero. I don't care about recognition or anything, it wasn't that, it was just, you know...you're so good at so many things...but I was always good at being helpful and nice, and...I finally got to help people, really help them. I know it's dumb, but, I feel like if I can't use the keyblade, it's like...I lose that part of me.”

“Sora,” Riku said softly, “come on now, that's not true at all. You can help people because you're you, not because of the keyblade.”

“I don't feel so much like me lately,” Sora mumbled against Riku's shirt.

“Well...do you want to talk about it?” Riku asked. He had a feeling this had something to do with Roxas, Sora seemed to act really off anytime his nobody was mentioned, and he seemed like he knew more than before about him. 

Sora shook his head, “No, I don't want to talk about it. I'll be okay...I just...can you help me get my strength back up? It'd mean a lot to me.”

Riku sighed and nodded, “Yeah, yeah of course I can do that. But, Sora, if this has something to do with Roxas-”

“Don't. Riku. Please,” Sora said quickly, “I don't want to talk about him.”

Riku's brow furrowed, but he nodded, “Okay, alright, well, I'll help you train. But you have to take it easy at first. Do you want to try training with Kairi and Lea?”

Sora quickly shook his head, “No no! I don't want them to see me...you know.”  
Riku nodded, he could understand that. Poor Sora. What the hell had Xemnas done to him? “Alright Sora, well, I'll just help you however I can, alright?” He almost added 'you're the most important thing in the world to me' but decided that would sound a little weird.

Sora smiled sweetly up at him, his big blue eyes staring gratefully up into Riku's teal ones. Riku felt his heart skip and he had to look away. He smiled a bit and pet Sora's hair, “anything for you.”

Sora leaned up and kissed Riku's cheek, “You're the best Riku! And don't worry, I promise I'm not still upset about..uh, our past. We're best friends, and we might've had some issues a couple years ago, but you're a really great guy Riku, and I know that was in the past and you're a lot better now.”

Riku's cheeks tinged pink and he gave a small smile, “Well, I'm far from the best, but you're sweet.”

Sora sighed and went to stand up, but then stopped, still holding onto Riku uncertainly. Riku frowned and looked at him quizzically, “Something wrong?”

Sora gave Riku a bashful look, “I uh...don't think I can walk...”

Riku smiled sympathetically and lifted Sora up into his arms, standing up with him, “You just pushed yourself too hard, don't worry, we'll get you back to full strength in no time.”

Sora hugged Riku's neck and sighed sadly, “Yeah...I hope so.”

\---

Riku got Sora settled into his room and waited for him to drift off before he left, closing the door quietly behind him. He was greeted, once again, by Donald staring up at him.

“Is Sora back in there?” Donald asked.

Riku grunted, “Yeah, but he's sleeping. You should just come back later.”

“Well I need to talk to him right now,” Donald insisted.

“I doubt that,” Riku said, crossing his arms, “What do you need?”

“None of your business shadow boy,” Donald quacked.

“First of all, uncalled for. Second of all, I could punt you like a feathered football. So tell me what you want or I'll invent a new game called duck ball,” Riku growled.

Donald took a step back, looking uneasy, “...fine. I need to take him to Master Yen Sid. He said he needed to talk to Sora about training to get his strength back. It is important, see?”

Riku grunted, “Well, take me to see him first then. I want to talk to him. Sora's not taking all this so well, so I just want to ask Yen Sid to maybe...be a little gentle with his words.”

Donald huffed, patting his foot against the ground in irritation, “Oh please. Sora is fine! He's just the same as always. You worry too much! Now lemme in there.”

Riku frowned, not moving from his spot in front of the door, “No. Donald, listen, I'm serious here. He's not-”

Riku paused when he heard the door open behind him. Sora was standing there, gripping the frame like it was the only thing holding him up. His eyes didn't look as bright as usual, but he had a happy grin in place, like he hadn't been in complete distress less then ten minutes ago. Riku turned around to look at him, and Donald crossed his arms, looking up at Riku like he believed him even less now.

“Hey guys! I could hear you talking. Don't worry Riku, I'm just fine to go talk to master Yen Sid! Donald is right, you do worry too much. I just uh, need a couple minutes, and I'll meet you there, okay Donald?”

Donald huffed, “Alright Sora, don't take too long. I'll be waiting.” He turned and waddled off, grumbling to himself as he went.

Riku looked at Sora uncertainly, “Sora, I understand you not wanting Kairi and Lea to know you aren't doing great, but don't you think your teammates should know?”

Sora shook his head, “No, no it'll be just fine! I just...need a little boost from you. Just use Cura on me and I should be good to walk again for a bit at least!”

Riku frowned, “Sora, I really don't think you should be pushing yourself like this.”  
Sora gave him a big pouty look with puppy dog eyes, “Riku...please? It's really important to me!”

Riku groaned, he could never say no to Sora's pouty face. “Fine, but you better not get yourself hurt!”

Sora grinned and stood up a little straighter, still holding onto the door frame as Riku cast Cura on him. He sighed softly and left go to the frame, moving to hug Riku instead, “Thank you Riku!” he chirped.

Riku patted his head, then Sora turned and headed off down the hall, still looking a little unsteady, but other than that seeming completely normal. Riku knew Sora better than that though, he knew he really wasn't alright, but...he also had no idea what to do about it. He hoped if he could just help him get some of his strength back, maybe that'd be enough for Sora to start feeling more like himself again. He just had a feeling that it would take more than that.


	3. Side Sora: Afraid of the Dark

Sora went and talked to Yen Sid, and, as he had pretty much expected, he was once again reminded of everything he could’ve done better. It wasn’t that he was bitter about it, hell, he always appreciated tips on how to avoid getting nearly killed! No, he wasn’t upset about that at all. He was just a little disappointed in himself, for having failed so terribly in the first place.

Goofy and Donald kept pace beside him as usual, and they seemed to notice Sora’s usual chipper attitude replaced with a quieter, more somber one. Goofy shared a look of concern with Donald, but the duck just gave him a kind of shrug, like he wasn’t getting what he big deal was.

Goofy shook his head and rested a hand on Sora’s shoulder, “Heya Sora, you alright pal?” He questioned. Goofy might’ve been kinda slow at times, but he felt like, as a parent of someone roughly Sora’s age, he could tell when the kid was troubled by something.

Sora blinked and looked over at him, “Huh? Of course I am! Just trying to think over the best way to approach training. Riku already said he’d help me!” Sora’s face returned to its usual beaming smile, “He’s so great! I don’t know any other keyblade masters, besides the king, but I bet he’s gotta be the best one! Uh, after the king of course.”

Goofy shook his head, “You an’ your crushes. Well, I’m just glad nothin’s botherin ya. You can talk to your ol’ pal Goofy if ya need to ya know!”

Sora blushed a little, “Crush? I don’t have a crush on Riku, Goofy. Don’t be...Uh, so goofy.”

Goofy gave a loud laugh at Sora’s terrible joke.

Sora grinned, “and of course I’m fine! When have I ever not been? No time I can remember!”

Donald shook his head, “You’ve always had a screw loose if you ask me.”

Sora gave Donald a mock pout and crossed his arms, “Well that’s why I didn’t ask you!”

Goofy gave another laugh, which ended up getting Sora chuckling a bit too. They joked around for awhile, talked about a possible training schedule, and then split off to their respective rooms. It was well after dark by then, and everyone was pretty worn out.

Sora walked into his room and closed the door, humming to himself as he walked around it. He looked over his impressive collection of wall stickers, which he’d retrieved from various worlds, and then sat on his bed, taking down the picture of himself and his friends to look at. He loved that old picture, it was of him, Riku, and Kairi, all hanging out by that big bent palm tree on Destiny Island.

Sora sighed and ran his thumb over the edge of the picture, “Things sure were a heck of a lot simpler then, but at least we did finally get to leave our boring little island. Not that I minded our island, I hope we get to go back there eventually. Saving the world is nice, but I miss naps on the beach.”

Sora shook his head, feeling silly for talking to a picture of his friends when his friends were only a couple rooms away, and turned the image over instead. On the plain white back, written in scrawling hand writing that Sora wasn’t sure was his own or someone else’s, it read ‘You are the one that will open the door’.

Sora felt like he’d put it there to remind himself that he was important, and to stay positive, but he couldn’t really remember writing it. What door was he even supposed to open? He thought it was the door to darkness, but clearly that wasn’t the biggest issue anymore, so he was pretty lost. He shook his head and hung the picture back up, deciding once again to try and solve that riddle another day.

Sora changed into pajamas and got into bed once more, sighing as he prepared for his newest nightly issue, actually getting to sleep. He left his lights on, and that seemed to help, but it was never quite enough to fend off the nightmares. He hoped he didn’t have another one about Riku again. He trusted Riku with his life, and hated that his mind just couldn’t seem to get over that one time he had been a huge dick.

Then, as if thinking about someone might summon them to your side, there was a knock on Sora’s door, and Riku partially cracked it open.

“Can I come in?” He asked.

Sora huffed, “You’re supposed to wait until I answer before you open the door! What if I had been naked, huh?”

Riku grinned a tiny bit and raised his eyebrows, and Sora blushed a bit and huffed. Riku shook his head and walked in, even though Sora hadn’t actually said if he could.

“I never said you could come in,” Sora pointed out as Riku sat on the edge of his bed.

Riku just shook his head again, “Well, I wanted to check on you. You were having some real issues earlier, I doubt all that stuff just went away.”

Sora’s face fell and he fixed Riku with a stubborn gaze, “I’m the hero of light, it’s nothing I can’t handle.”

“Sora, you don’t have to be afraid-“

“To ask for help?” Sora finished for him, “Well, you are. So it’s kind of hypocritical of you to tell me anything.”

Riku blinked, “...touché.”

“I’m fine, really Riku, I promise. As soon as I can fight again, I’ll be better than ever! You’re sweet to worry though,” Sora said, patting Riku’s arm.

Riku sighed quietly and stood back up, “Alright, well, if you change your mind about the help thing, I’m uh, you know, here.”

Sora nodded and gave a grin and a thumbs up, “Thanks Riku! Now go get some sleep, it’s getting late!”

Riku sighed softly and clicked Sora’s light off, which made the smaller boy give a startled yell, something between panic and fear. Riku quickly clicked it back on, looking in bewilderment at Sora as the boy stared, wide-eyed and unblinking, back at him.

“I uh..you startled me,” Sora mumbled.

“Sora, are you-”

“Goodnight, Riku!” Sora said, a slight edge to his voice. He really just wanted Riku to leave so he could deal with his sudden panic attack in peace.

Riku looked hesitant, and didn’t move, just sort of swayed in one spot. He looked like he really wanted to say something, but couldn’t find the words. It didn’t matter though, Sora already knew what he wanted to ask.

Are you afraid of the dark?

The unspoken question hung in the air between them, Riku unable to ask and Sora unable to answer. Sora’s heart was pounding in his chest, a rush of adrenaline still swirling in him from suddenly being plunged into darkness a minute ago, and Riku was just standing there, looking at him with an unreadable expression.

“Please...go,” Sora said, voice coming out a lot smaller than he meant it too.

There was so much pain in those two words, it made Riku want to stay more, but he figured if Sora really didn’t want him around right now then he’d just be making it worse by staying. He stared at Sora for another long minute before finally mumbling a soft ‘sorry’ and leaving the room.

Sora fell back with his head against the pillow, releasing a shaky sigh. He grappled his pillow out from under his head and hugged it to himself, wrapping his whole body around it the best he could. Sora was an affectionate boy, and he felt the desperate need for a hug right now, but also knew he wasn’t going to get one, so this would have to do. He knew Riku would’ve stated if he’d asked, he would’ve hugged him too, but Sora just felt too weak and vulnerable. He didn’t want Riku seeing him like that.

He whined softly against the pillow, pressing his face into it and taking deep breaths until he didn’t feel like crying anymore. Eventually he just passed out From a mix of stress and exhaustion.

He dreamt of the darkness swallowing him that night, and woke up in a cold sweat more than once. He lay awake at four in the morning, unable to get the vision of piercing golden eyes out of his head.


	4. Side Riku|Sora: Sunrise

Riku walked groggily into the dining area early that morning. The sun was just barely rising, but he was too restless to stay in bed any longer. As he sat down at the table and studied the faces of the other keyblade wielders around him, it seemed that none of them had a great night. Even Kairi looked a little tired. He gave a grunt of acknowledgment to the others and they gave various mumbles in return. Sora seemed particularly distracted, barely mumbling a reply to Riku as he stared vacantly at the table.

“Looks like everyone had a shitty night's sleep,” Riku yawned, “uncomfortable beds or unrelenting nightmares?”

Lea chuckled bitterly and replied by tossing a fork at Riku with a little too much force. Riku got the hint that no one was in the mood for jokes and went quiet as well. Kairi looked confused, like she was trying to piece together a story she only had a quarter of. Every now and then her bottom lip would twitch, like she was about to ask something, then thought better of it. 

Everyone sat in an incredibly uncomfortable silence for about five minutes before the rest of the tower residents joined them. King Mickey walked in, talking with Donald and Goofy as they made their way to the kids' table. Master Yen Sid didn't join them, seeming to have this weird thing against being around people like a normal human, and Merlin was...there. The old wizard was the one who made the food, and Sora usually found his lively dancing tea cups and spinning plates absolutely wonderful, but today he just mutely smiled as the objects glittered and danced in the light. Riku noticed this, but didn't say anything. He felt like it'd be a bad time to bring it up.

Merlin made pre-prepared food appear on the plates, probably just summoning it form the kitchen to save everyone the trouble of carrying it. He hummed happily, oblivious to the dark cloud hanging over the teens as he waved his wand and set out the food for everyone.

When he was done, he took a seat next to Mickey and smacked his hands down on the table, “Well! Everyone is very quiet today! I haven't finally gone deaf have I?”

Goofy chuckled and Donald gave an annoyed grumble. Donald wasn't a big fan of the kooky old man, but, then again, Donald wasn't really a big fan of anyone. The king shook his head and patted Merlin's arm, “No pal, your hearing is fine, I just-”

“What?” Merlin cut him off, speaking a little too loudly.

Mickey paused, then continued, “...your hearing is mostly fine. I just think everyone is feelin' a little stressed. We are under a sort of time crunch here after all.”

“No worries your majesty, we'll be more than ready soon enough!” Kairi said, trying to sound confident, despite having roughly zero combat experience to back up her statement. It was times like this that she really wished she had joined in the boys' sword fighting when they were little.

Merlin hummed in response, stroking his beard as he seemed to drift off into his own thoughts. Mickey smiled and nodded, “I have confidence in you kids. And I know Riku will be able to keep you all on the right track with your training!”

Sora tensed just the slightest bit, but said nothing, just poking lightly at his plate with a fork. Riku gave an uncomfortable half smile, “Yeah, I'm sure I uh...will. Sora will be a big help too. He knows a lot of things about the keyblade that I don't.”

Mickey nodded, “Of course, but you know plenty Riku, and we can't expect Sora to be able to even do as much as he could before right now. Exerting yourself right now wouldn't be a good idea Sora. I know you love helping people, but remember that recovery is important too!”

Sora nodded, “I know,” he said softly, “I'm sure Riku's got it under control. He's the master anyway, nobody better to teach Kairi and Lea, except maybe you your majesty.” Sora looked towards Mickey and offered a warm smile. It was offset by the tiredness in his eyes, but he still looked chipper as ever, just a little worn out.

Riku looked more uncomfortable at Sora's words, but once again kept his mouth shut. He was thrilled that he had passed the test of course, and being a keyblade master gave him a lot of confidence that he really had tamed the darkness in himself, but he always felt a little awkward when it was mentioned around Sora. Especially when it was Sora mentioning it. Sora was always earnest in his praise, and never sounded bitter that Riku had passed and he hadn't, he just always seemed a little...disappointment, maybe? It was hard to tell, but he could at least see that something was a little off there. He wondered sometimes if Sora felt like he was less than him because he had failed that test.

Riku was pulled out of his thoughts when a spoonful of jam hit him in the face, “fUhF?” he exhaled in confusion, wiping the fruit off his face and looking for the source.

Sora grinned at him, waggling a spoon in one hand, “You've gotta get your head out of the clouds, silly Riku!”

After that, the atmosphere lightened somewhat, and everyone started talking more. They ended up discussing their favorite keyblade designs, to which Sora pulled out one that he said was called 'Sweet Memories'.

“It came from the Hundred Acre Woods!” he said, excitedly swinging the thing around over the table, “I got it after I helped Pooh and all his friends!”

Riku smiled and looked at the rather unimpressive keyblade, “What's so special about that keyblade, Sora? It looks pretty cute, but not strong enough for fighting.”

Sora huffed and hugged the keyblade, “It's not about that Riku! It's a symbol of friendship, and that's what's the most important about it! Pooh and everybody else were the most innocent, nice group I ever met, so this keyblade means a lot to me! I know it's not the best weapon, but it's still one of the best friendship things I have.”

Kairi made a low, almost strangled squeaking sound, Riku was concerned until she started outright gushing, “Awwww! Soraaaa that's the sweetest thing! How does someone as precious as you even exist?!” 

Sora smiled bashfully and put the keyblade away, “Kairi stop it! I am not precious!”

Kairi nudged him from her seat to his left, “You are! You're still like an innocent little kid sometimes, but like, in a good way!”

Sora giggled and playfully shoved her back, “I'm not like a little kid Kairi!” 

“Stop it Axel, I'm not a little kid!”

The words shot through Sora's head like a bullet, ricocheting and shattering in a burst of echoes against the inside of his skull. He suddenly had a headache. His smile fell and he looked across the table towards Lea, how had been very quiet all morning. The redhead affixed him with a sad, all too knowing look, and then returned to picking at his plate.

Sora stood up from the table abruptly, “I have to go to the bathroom,” he hurriedly blurted before running out of the room.

Kairi blinked and watched him run off, “Did...did I do something?”

Lea looked towards her, “It's not you, don't worry.”

Kairi frowned, “I'm clearly missing something here.”

“Don't worry about it,” Riku said, “It's really for the best that at least one of us stays blissfully unaware.”

Kairi scowled at this, getting up from her seat abruptly, “I might've been helpless before, but I'm not anymore, Riku! If none of you bottled up idiots will tell me what's going on, I'll just go ask Sora directly!” She huffed and turned, stalking out of the room.

“Gawrsh, are you kids okay?” Goofy asked from far down the table, leaning to look at the two remaining stressed out boys.

“We're fine Goofy, nothing to worry about,” Riku said shortly, getting up and walking out without giving the dog a chance to respond.

“You're not my real dad,” Lea replied, also hurrying off.

Goofy blinked a couple times and looked towards Donald and Mickey, “...you guys think that was awful weird too, right?”

“I was under the impression that humans were just like that,” Donald said flatly.

Mickey frowned and shook his head, “It's been a pretty long journey, and they've all gone through a lot. I'm sure if we give em some space they'll work it out.”

“Well, I get this feelin...that maybe somebody oughtta talk to these kids before they just end up hurtin' themselves. Teenagers get real stressed all easy anyways, and these guys are kinda dealin with the literal end of the worlds. Must be awful tough.”

“Lea isn't a teenager,” was the only response Donald had. Goofy took Donald's hat and stuffed it over his beak.

\--- 

Sora was lying on the floor high up in the tower, resting in the light of one of the ceiling-high windows of the building. He found that for the past couple years, he really enjoyed watching the sunset. Right now it was the sunrise, but they looked pretty similar. He didn't know where the intense love of it had come from before, but now he'd harbor a guess that it was Roxas. He also felt sometimes like maybe Roxas could see the world through him, so he liked to try and watch every sunset he could, to at least give Roxas something he loved.

He stared blankly out the massive window, legs and arms sprawled across the light-stained floor as his mind wandered. He felt Roxas' memories now. They kept flashing through him, just now and then, but ever since he sort of met him in the weird nightmare, he suddenly just kind of, knew Roxas. He had all his memories now, more or less, and he kind of wished he didn't. He didn't blame Roxas for what he did, but he felt like in a weird way it was Roxas punishing him for being the one of them that got to keep living. Sora closed his eyes slowly, recalling another memory, this one was shared between the two of them, the intense battle they'd had in Sora's heart. 

It was right after Axel had died, Roxas had done...something, neither of them seemed to know what exactly, but he had done something. And Sora ended up in his own heart, with Roxas screaming at him in absolute agony. He was so angry and pained. Sora understood why now. Back then, he couldn't figure out who the boy with two keyblades was, he couldn't figure out why he was shaking with pure boiling emotion as he relentlessly attacked him, and he couldn't figure out why the boy had screamed 'Why did he choose you?!'. He knew now. He wished he didn't.

Sora's eyes slid open again, and as he stared at the orange-pink glow of the rising sun, he mumbled something under his breath, words form Roxas' memory, “do you know why the sun sets red?”

He was startled when he received an answer to his mumble, a voice behind him that said, “because light reflects all colors, but red travels the furthest, so, it fades last.”

Sora sat bolt upright and twisted around to see Lea standing behind him. The man had a small, sad smile on his face, hands shoved into the pockets of his jeans as he stared over Sora's head, also looking out the window.

“How um, how long have you been there?” Sora asked.

Lea chuckled a bit, “Just a couple minutes. I stopped when I saw you lying on the ground. I kind of thought you just passed out here.”

Sora flushed in embarrassment, “N-no I uh, I was just...you know, watching the sunrise...from the floor.”

Lea nodded to the patch of early morning light next to Sora, “Room for one more?” he asked.

Sora nodded and patted the hard tile, “Sure, it'll be less weird if two of us are sitting down here.”

“Sure, just go on thinking that,” Lea chuckled, sitting down with a sigh. He looked out the window again, silent for a few minutes, then he said something that took Sora off guard, “...do you think he's still in there?”

Sora nodded quickly, stumbling over his words a bit, “I-I...I know he is, he was, all mean and, he's like, um, I met him. He tried to kick my ass and then told me I was...a good other.”

Lea chuckled again, “That sounds like him alright. He always had such a short-fuse. Wonder what got him so mad at you.”

Sora shifted uncomfortably and didn't answer that, he just carried on with something else instead, “I want to find a way to bring him back, you know, he seems so...like, cool. He deserves to be his own person just like me, so, I um, I want to find a way, I think it's possible. It has to be, right?”

Lea closed his eyes and tipped his head back, feeling the warm sunlight on his skin, silent for a minute before answering. His voice sounded almost broken as he said, “It's not.”

Sora frowned and looked up at Lea, “What are you saying? It has to be! He's in there, with his own feelings and memories, there has to be a way to get him back out!”

“Roxas...was always you. I mean, he isn't you, he's Roxas, but...he was..your...your body. Me and Axel are the same being, that's the difference I guess, but see, you couldn't separate Axel from me, because I am Axel. But Roxas...Roxas was never you, even though he kind of...was. Basically, you're whole with him, and without him...well, without him you're a heartless. There's no way you can bring him back without a body, and yours ain't exactly unoccupied anymore.”

Sora looked up at Lea with a wide-eyes and largely confused gaze, taking in what he said. After a minute, he laid back on the floor again, stretching his arms up behind his head, “Well...I was just fine without him for a whole year, so I can be again. I have a good feeling about it. Besides, the rules don't seem to apply to me, I always find a way! And Lea, I'm honestly pretty disappointed in you. You made Roxas a promise, you shouldn't just give up on it.”

Lea looked over to the little island boy, finding a strange comfort in his naive optimism. He teared up a little anyway, unable to keep himself from it any longer, “heh...you, you remember that huh?”

“He gave me all his memories,” Sora said, “and you made a promise. That you'd always be there to bring him back. You better not just give up Lea! Nothing is impossible you know!”

Lea laughed and had to slap a hand to his face, trying to both stifle his laughter and hide his tears. Sora sat back up and rested a hand on Lea's leg, “Lea? Come on, I was trying to cheer you up, did it not work? I can't tell if you're having a breakdown or if you just think I'm funny.”

Lea shook his head and, still laughing, moved his hand to ruffle Sora's hair, “I'm not having a breakdown just yet, you're just...you're like a little ray of sunshine. I guess I'm just laughing because...I don't know, because I miss my friend, and what you're saying is so stupid...but, it also kind of isn't. You make me feel less sad. Do you have that effect on everyone?”

Sora gave a broad grin, “Pretty much! And I might sound stupid, but most things I say have worked out, so I'd have faith if I were you!”

Lea's laughter died down into quiet chuckles and he wiped his tears away, moving to wrap an arm around Sora in a sort of half hug, “Thanks Sora. You're a good kid.”

Sora smiled and leaned against Lea's side, feeling weirdly comfortable with a guy he barely knew. He did know him though, through Roxas. And he felt like Roxas would want this, to be close to his friend like this. He sat there for another half an hour with Lea, both of them watching the sunrise in a comfortable silence.

\---  
Kairi spent nearly an hour looking for Sora, checking all the rooms she thought he could be in before finally giving up and going to Riku for help. When he asked he if she'd check the spire, she realized that she had no idea this tower had so many levels. It did make sense, being a tower and all, it had just never dawned on her. She stared blankly for a minute after Riku had asked this. 

He then snorted and patted her shoulder, “Towers have a lot of stairs and rooms, Kai.”

Kairi swatted at him and huffed, “I just wasn't thinking, okay? So um, how do I get to this spire?”

Riku walked with her to the end of one of the many hallways and pointed her to a big white door, “That leads up to it. I saw Sora head up there a couple days ago, I think he likes hanging out up there. Nice view I guess.”

“Don't you want to come with me?” Kairi asked.

“Do you need me to hold your hand or something?” 

“No. Dick. I meant to check on Sora! He was being weird again at breakfast!”

Riku shrugged, “I tried talking to him last night, he doesn't want to talk to me. I think it'd be better if I didn't push him on it.”

Riku was actually getting increasingly worried about Sora, and very much wanted to go with Kairi to check on him, but he also felt like he shouldn't. Sora was clearly having some PTSD, and Riku knew that he, unfortunately, was also a part of the trauma Sora had endured. He didn't want to make it worse by...being around him. It pained him to keep distance from Sora after missing him for this long, but he was sure it would just make Sora more antsy if he tried to be around him and talk to him too much.

Kairi shook her head, not seeing Riku's concern at all, “I thought you cared more about him that this, honestly Riku, after everything you guys have been through together?”

Riku glanced over Kairi quickly, debating how bad he would feel about punching her square in the face. He decided he would feel very bad, so he turned and walked away instead. Kairi called after him indignantly, but he tuned her out and just kept going. He couldn't blame her, she didn't know what he was thinking, it did certainly seem like he didn't care, but that didn't make it hurt any less when she said it.

Riku headed up to Merlin's training room, deciding to take some of his pent up aggression out on the magical furniture. He spent a good hour just destroying everything around him, feeling pretty cathartic as he reduced a dresser to splinters and shattered countless plates. He ditched his shirt after only half an hour, feeling way too warm with the layer of cotton. Plus, is he was being completely honest with himself, he felt kind of bad-ass running around destroying shit shirtless. He paused in his demolition of a flying table to catch his breath, and when he did, he suddenly felt eyes on him. He turned to see Sora just leaning against the door frame, staring at him with a look he couldn't place.

“...hey,” he greeted awkwardly.

Sora stared for another second, then blinked and blushed, as if just realizing he'd been caught staring, “H-hey! Um, sorry to interrupt your training. I was just...” he paused and looked down awkwardly, “...watching.”

Riku snorted and walked over, “Yeah, I see that. Admiring how awesome I look beating up inanimate objects?” he joked.

From the way Sora's face heated up though, it seemed like he didn't get the fact Riku was kidding. Riku raised an eyebrow and leaned down a bit so he was eye-level with his friend, “I know I'm a catch, what with my awesome hair and the evil man trapped in my heart, but you don't have to be so bashful.”

Sora got that he was teasing now, and snorted, “I thought you got rid of him already.” His cheeks were still bright pink, and he seemed to be trying very hard to look only at Riku's face and not down at his chest, but Riku decided he'd question that a little later.

“I..think I did? Probably? Well, anyway, were you here to train?” he asked, standing back upright and then stretching languidly, not at all because he was pretty sure Sora was staring. Not for that reason at all.

Sora's mouth hung open for a moment, eyes flicking over Riku before he shook his head and refocused on Riku's face, “Um, yeah! I was just gonna train by myself, but I guess since you're already here and said you'd help, we could do that!”

Riku nodded and walked over to a panel of buttons on the wall, pressing a few, “Alright, I'll set it up. Just wait there a second.”

Sora nodded, rocking on his heels and trying to figure out what that panel was. He saw the objects reacting to each button press, and figured it must be a magic thing that he didn't quite get. After giving up on figuring out the intricacies of Merlin's magic, he settled for watching the gentle shift of Riku's back muscles as he worked. The slide of shoulder blades as his arms moved and smooth, pale skin that glowed in the light of the floating lanterns. Sora was so enamored with watching Riku that he was completely blindsided when a cup whapped him in the face.

Sora squawked and Riku laughed, “I didn't think you were paying attention. Did you even hear what I asked you?” 

Riku turned away from the panel, facing Sora, who shook his head no. He hadn't even heard Riku, he had been to focused on...other things. Riku chuckled and shook his head, “I said I'm keeping the setting low right now, just the lighter objects will attack, and they're easier to destroy right now. We want to start you slow after all.”

Sora sighed, not liking that, but figured arguing with Riku about this would be pointless. He nodded, “Okay...but I really think I can handle more than the bare minimum!”

“Well, we'll see,” Riku smiled, “I know you're determined, so I'm sure you'll be able to move up to the harder settings soon enough.”

Sora nodded and walked further into the room, waiting for the furniture to start attacking him. He was disappointed to find only plates and teacups flying at him, and not even going all that fast. He was even more disappointed to find that just fifteen minutes of this easy as hell exercise was wearing him out. 

Riku walked over and rested a hand on Sora's shoulder after noticing him start to falter, “Alright, that's good for today Sora.”

Sora whined indignantly, swinging the keyblade at Riku, bapping him lightly with it, “No! I can do more than that! Come on, I hardly even did anything, I'm not this useless, there's no way!”

Riku shook his head, “I'm sure you can do more, but if you do, you'll just exhaust yourself again. It's better this way.” 

“The boring stupid way?”

“Yes. The boring stupid way.”

Sora looked down at his keyblade, then back up at Riku, “But...I...”

Riku pulled Sora into a hug, “I know Sora, but it won't be like this forever, okay?”

Sora tensed for a second, feeling a little awkward about being pressed against Riku's bare chest. To his credit though, it did certainly make him forget about what was upsetting him at the moment. After a moment he hugged Riku back, leaning against him heavily and sighing. He intended to say something like 'I know' or 'Thank you' or 'I hope you're right', but what came out instead was, “You smell good.”

Both boys were quiet for a minute, then Riku hugged Sora tighter and started laughing, “You are so weird.”

Sora groaned and just hid his face against Riku, “shut uup!”

Riku lifted Sora up bridal style, making Sora give a startled noise, “Wh-hey! I can walk just fine Riku!”

Riku just kept laughing, “I know. Too bad.”

“And I'm the weird one?” Sora huffed, “Honestly Riku.”

Riku smiled and started carrying Sora towards his room, “You should rest for a bit now. I know it's annoying, but it'll help you get better faster, I swear.”

Sora huffed and nuzzled against Riku, “Mmph. This is so frustrating.”

Riku grunted sympathetically. He set Sora down on his bed and sighed, stretching, “So hey, did Kairi ever find you?”

Sora nodded, “Yeah.”

Riku looked at him, waiting for him to elaborate. He didn't though, so Riku attempted moving the conversation forward, “...what did she want?”

“Just wanted to know if I was okay.”

“What'd you tell her?”

“I told her I was okay.”  
Riku snorted, “Fair enough. Well, if you want to talk about...being totally 100% okay...I am here. For you. For...talking.”

Sora giggled, “Riku, I know you're worried, but really, I'm fine.” He grinned and nudged Riku, “You should hear yourself ramble like that, you sound like such a dork.”

Riku grunted and pressed his hand against Sora's whole face, “Oh shut up, you're the dork here.”

Sora licked Riku's hand and beamed when Riku instantly recoiled his hand, wiping it vigorously on the bed sheets, “Gross, Sora!”

Sora yawned and giggled, “dork.”

Riku huffed and shook his head, “Whatever. You look tired Sora, you should get some sleep.”

Sora looked like he wanted to protest, but whatever he went to say was cut off by another yawn. He blinked slowly, then nodded, “yeah, I guess so. I didn't sleep super good last night, maybe a nap would be good.”

Riku nodded in agreement and ruffled Sora's hair, “Alright, get some sleep then.” He got up and went to leave, but Sora grabbed the hem of his pants.

Riku turned back to Sora questioningly, but Sora was avoiding eye contact as he mumbled something quietly. Riku slowly sat back down, confused, “what's wrong?”

Sora shifted a bit, “...can you...stay with me? Just for a little bit?”

Riku blinked in surprise, “I, uh, yeah. Sure.” Riku wasn't really sure what do say to that, Sora wanted him to stay here with him, which was of course fine by him, but it didn't help his worry at all. Sora used to ask Riku to stay with him after he'd had nightmares when they were little kids, but he hadn't done it since they were ten and Riku had called him a baby that was too old for nightmares. Riku wished he could beat up his past self.

Sora gave a small, appreciative smile, “Thanks Riku.”

Riku nodded, moving to sit on the floor by Sora's bed, assuming that was what he wanted, but Sora stopped him again. Sora looked more bashful and shifted a bit, “No...um...like...when we were kids. Just...just for a few minutes?”

Riku felt his heart skip, and he couldn't tell if it was because he felt so bad for Sora, or something else. Riku just nodded and shifted around, having to maneuver a bit to fit on the little twin bed with Sora, but eventually he managed it. Riku ended up laying on his back, pressed with his side against the very cold wall, and with Sora cuddled up halfway on his chest, clinging to him like he was a giant teddy bear.

Riku closed his eyes, slipping one arm around Sora to hold him close as he silently prayed that Sora couldn't hear his heart hammering in his chest. If he could, he didn't say anything, instead just cuddling happily into Riku's strong arms. He gave a soft little sigh and pressed a kiss to Riku's chest.

“Thank you 'ku,” he mumbled, half asleep.

Riku was positive he had an out of body experience right there, but after his soul returned to him, he managed to choke out a short, “no problem.”

Sora hummed and rubbed his face against Riku, feeling safe in his warmth, and in the moment, content. Sora drifted off to sleep. Riku lay there in silence for some time, pondering for the thousandth time in the last year what these feelings towards his friend were.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Edit: These first four chapters have been modified a bit, and everything from here on out will be the start of my version of KH3, I hope you'll all enjoy it!


	5. Side Riku: Darkened Waters

Riku was roused from his nap time with Sora by a repeated tapping on his shoulder. He grunted, blinking sleep from his eyes as the blurry form of the king came into view. “m'cky?” Riku mumbled groggily.

Mickey laughed quietly into his hand, “I hate to bother ya like this, but Master Yen Sid said it's time. You and me, we're gonna go get Aqua.”

Riku blinked a few more times, running a hand through Sora's hair as he tried to process what Mickey was telling him, “A...qua..?”

Mickey shook his head, “You're still kinda asleep. Just come on and meet me in Yen Sid's room, I'll be waiting!” He patted Riku's arm and walked back out.

Riku dazedly watched his swinging tail as he left, trying to wake himself up more fully. He looked down at the still sleeping Sora, he looked so peaceful. “Sleeping like nothing's wrong,” he murmured, petting his friend's hair. He sighed and shifted around, standing up with Sora in his arms. The boy kept on sleeping away, not even stirring at the movement, so Riku just lay him back down and quietly left the room.

He retrieved his shirt from the training room, and as he pulled it back on, he realized that Mickey, a friend and mentor to him, had in fact, walked into Sora's room to find Riku shirtless and wrapped around Sora. His face burned as he walked to Yen Sid's tower room, praying to any god that Mickey wouldn't bring it up. 

He bowed as he entered, pushing the awkward situation out of his mind. “Master. Mickey said something about Master Aqua?”

Yen Sid nodded, stroking his beard, “Indeed. Your vestments are finally prepared, so you may safely enter the realm of darkness to retrieve her.”

Riku looked up in surprise, “We can? Really? We know where she is?”

Mickey shifted on his feet, “Well...kinda. We know she's in the darkness...and um...okay, well last time I went there, my heart felt drawn to her light. So, we might not know exactly where she is, but I'm confident she'll guide us!”

Riku nodded slowly, uncertain. It was their only shot though, “Alright. And...we actually have a solid way to get back now? We won't get trapped?”

Mickey laughed and shook his head, “No worries! We can come and go pretty easily now that I've mastered this!” he said, holding aloft the dark version of star seeker. “Only I can open a portal in and out though, so we gotta take care not to lose this!”

Riku nodded, “Right. Okay then. Let's get started.”

Yen Sid pushed two suit cases forward, “These are your outfits, they will shield your hearts from the darkness. Be warned, however, that they cannot fully guard against the vast number of heartless that lurk in that realm. Be on your guard, lest the shadows overwhelm you.”

Both nodded, taking the cases and bowing again to Yen Sid, “Right, thank you master. We'll be careful,” Riku said.

“We got this!” Mickey said.

Riku changed quickly, finding he liked the dark jacket and fingerless gloves. The good fairies had pretty good taste. He nodded at himself in the bathroom mirror, “Okay, we've got this. Right me?” he pointed at the mirror, then sighed heavily, shaking his head, “God...I am a dork.”

He walked out into the hall, finding Mickey already waiting for him, “Okay, ready Riku?”

Riku nodded, “Ready. Let's go save her.”

\---

The ashen sands of the dark realm crunched under his boots in an unsettling way, feeling more like crystalline shards of glass instead of soft earth. Everything in this place was harsh. He was more than eager to get Aqua out of this place. He put a hand to his chest, looking up into the infinitely dark sky, “this place...I thought I might be scared, coming back here. But...”

“You're not?” Mickey asked, looking back to him.

Riku shook his head, “It's odd, but...I'm actually kind of...exhilarated. It's like...I really feel like we can do this. And I can't wait to get Aqua out of this hell. It's not the darkness either, I'm uncomfortably aware of what adrenaline fueled darkness feels like...it's like...I finally have confidence in my abilities. You know?”

Riku wasn't sure what it was about Mickey, he always felt more talkative around him. Maybe it was the fact the mouse had stuck with him through all his loneliest moments, or maybe they were just incredibly good friends, but talking like this felt natural. He looked to Mickey, expecting agreement, but the mouse was shaking his head.

“What?” Riku asked.

“It's not just your abilities, Riku, it's you. You learned how to channel and control that darkness in your exam, and ya know, sometimes all it takes is that special connection,” he said.

Riku's eyebrows furrowed, not quite understanding, “Huh? What do you mean?”

Mickey smiled knowingly, “Ya know Riku, sometimes, you care for somebody so deeply, that every other feeling fades into the background.” The mouse looked up, meeting his eyes, “Strength, to protect what matters. Right?”

Riku looked down at his hand, a faint memory bubbling into his mind. A man handing him a keyblade, telling him he could protect what mattered most. He had been so little then, but even after all this time, what mattered had never wavered. He closed his hand, smiling a bit, “Yeah, you're right.”

Mickey chuckled and turned, beginning to walk again, Riku started to follow, but as he looked around, all the scenery seemed confusing and dark, “Mickey...um, not to put a hamper on the mood or anything, but, you...do know where we're heading, right?”

Mickey slowed, “Ummm...” he turned and looked at Riku bashfully, “I was...kinda just guessin?”

Riku groaned and flopped down against a rock, “Mickey! I thought you said you could feel Aqua's light in this place.”

Mickey frowned, “Well...that's kinda the problem...I can. But...it's real dim...I'm having trouble feeling any connection at all.”

Riku grimaced, glancing to his left as a shadow skittered by, stopping to sniff at the skeletal remains of something or other, “...do you think that means-”

“Maybe,” Mickey cut him off, “But I sure hope not. We gotta keep goin, even if it is just with my gut for now.”

Riku sighed, standing back up, “Right. I really hope we aren't too late.”

“Have faith. Aqua is strong,” Mickey said, though he sounded like he was reassuring himself just as much as Riku.

After another while walking, Riku began to hear waves on the shore. His eyes brightened and he rushed forward, the crunching under his boots growing fainter as the harsh glassy sand gave way to actual, soft, glimmering sand. He stopped at the edge of the water, staring out into it, “This place...Sora.”

Mickey stood next to him, giving him a questioning look, “Huh?”

Riku shook his head, “Sora was here with me, when we were trapped in the realm of darkness. It's where we found the door to light. If you can't sense Aqua that well, maybe she found her way out too! If she had, this would've been the place.”

Mickey grimaced, rubbing his arm, “I'm...afraid not, Riku. Her trail stops entirely here, but...it's not 'cause she made it out. You can't usually leave this place without help. The fact you and Sora found a door is kinda...nearly impossible. Her trail ends in the waters. I think she may have fallen even deeper. The abyss beneath this world, where hearts really can't return on their own.”

Riku frowned, scanning the dark waters in front of him, “Oh...so...we're too late.”

Mickey shook his head, “No! No not at all! We can still go after her, we just...need some upgrades. These clothes aren't enough on their own to protect from that kinda darkness. And even someone like you, with all your power over it, would have a real rough time down there.”

Riku sighed, “You know...when I came here last...I was so scared. I had messed up, I lost my body, and this place...it was no welcome sight. The monsters here are like nothing I've seen, and I was so isolated. Every second felt like it had the potential to be my last...do you think...that's how Aqua feels? How she's felt for these last twelve years?”

Mickey looked down sadly, “Maybe so...but...she's like Sora, she's strong. She has a light that'll never go out, I'm sure of it. And...we're here now, we'll get her out, I just know it.”

Riku smiled softly, “Well...if she's like Sora...then I guess she must be okay. He could find light even in a place like this. When we were here, he didn't seem scared at all. He was just happy the worlds were safe. So...maybe...maybe she's the same way.”

Mickey nodded, “Yeah, I'm sure she's fighting with all her heart! So let's go figure this out, so we can fight with all of ours to get her back!”

Riku nodded and the two turned, going to leave again when they suddenly found they had been surrounded. Riku and Mickey summoned their keyblades, falling back into a fighting stance. 

“It's only shadows,” Riku said, watching the twitching beings as they stared at the two, claws wriggling and antennae twitching.

“Riku, be careful, even little shadows have tricks in this place,” Mickey warned.

Riku wanted to ask what, but unfortunately, he got his answer. His eyes grew wide as the shadows all began to converge, more and more until they grew into a large, twitching mass, the sounds of their bodies crawling over one another, claws on claws, made the tower give an awful sound, like that of a million skittering roaches. Riku took a deep breath and held his keyblade aloft, they could do this. He was a keyblade master, wasn't he? This was nothing.

He and Mickey charged the tower, striking it rapidly and from every angle. Riku channeled what remained of his dark power to teleport around it, going higher and higher until he could strike the top of it. He swung down with such force that the tower split, crunching and skittering sickeningly as it did so. He sliced clean through the middle as Mickey continued destroying the strays, trying to reduce their numbers.

As his feet hit the sand, he was confident he had done it. He watched in satisfaction as the tower fell, hundreds of little bodies melting into the sand, one after the other. He sighed and stood tall, “You know, that was easier than I expected.”

Mickey turned to him, and his eyes widened, “Riku look out!” 

Riku had barely turned to look when the swirling mass overtook him. It seemed they had reformed behind him, not destroyed at all. 

His eyes, which had closed upon being encased, suddenly snapped open. He was floating, everything around him was dark. He tried to breathe, and his lungs were filled with a thick, tar-like substance. It burned terribly, he choked and held his throat, tearing up as he found himself unable to cough it up or take in any air. There was no air here, he was inside the tide...he was drowning. He began to panic, making strangled sounds as the lack of oxygen began to make his head hurt. 

“Please...not...not like this...” he choked out, words garbled and distant in the thick, watery darkness. His tears floated in front of his face as he began to grow dizzy, chest heaving and lungs ablaze as his body kept on forcibly trying to breathe in. 

“To think...finding you in a place like this...” a voice came to him, distant and distorted, “Are you here to help someone?”

Riku looked around in blurry eyed desperation, someone to save him from this painful end? “Y-yes...please...where..?”

“You look like you could use some help,” the voice came again, a hint of amusement to it.

Riku clenched his teeth, eyes now beginning to burn as well, head starting to feel light as his chest heaved and his arms clung to his throat as if it might contain what little air was left in his lungs. “I'm drowning...it's not funny,” he whispered, unable to manage more than that. “Who...who are you?”

“Me?” the voice asked, Riku's vision started to tunnel, and his heart began to race, thundering in his ears. “I'm...”

He didn't hear the rest, he stretched his hand out in one last, feeble attempt. Trying to reach for something, anything, his whole body screamed for air, and his brain couldn't take it any longer. His eyes drifted closed and his legs stopped kicking, body going still in the thick, black water.

\---

Riku awoke, coughing and gasping, choking up black gunk as tears rolled down his face. Mickey was standing over him, putting his whole body weight into hitting Riku's chest, trying to get him to breathe again. He looked over at Riku's coughing, ears twitching and tail waving happily.

“Riku! Oh thank the stars! Are you alright?!” He helped him sit up, patting his back as he coughed up more of the tar-like water, gasping for air between each cough.

Riku felt unsteady on his knees, and fell forward, hands curling into the sand as he vomited up what felt like a liter of the stuff. Mickey just stood by him, worriedly watching, waiting to make sure he was okay.

After a minute, Riku gave a shaky thumbs up, “fucking peachy,” he said, voice raspy. “What...WAS that?”

Mickey pushed Riku to his feet, scrabbling against his waist to try and steady him, “A demon tide. I fought it as quick as I could, but it took nearly three minutes before it finally spit you out and took off. I was scared you had drowned!”

Riku put a hand to his throat, staring out at the black waters of this dark sea, “I think I did,” he rasped.

Mickey hugged Riku's leg, unable to reach any higher, “Nearly...I'm so glad ya didn't! It musta given your heart a real time though, look.” He gently touched Riku's keyblade, and Riku looked down, eyes widening as he saw the top half of it had been torn clean off.

“I...thought these were bonded to our hearts, how can one break?” he asked, astonished and, frankly, a little scared.

“Well...when a wielder dies, their blade is left behind...but...when a heart splinters, or comes close to dyin, sometimes the keyblade attached to the wielder gets hurt too. It looks like I was just barely in time,” Mickey said.

Riku shuddered, he had really almost drowned, what an awful, sickening feeling. His chest felt tighter just thinking about it. “Well...what do I do now?”

Mickey turned, pointing his own keyblade to summon a portal back out of that place, “You ask Yen Sid if he can get you another one is what.”

Riku looked down at his keyblade sadly. Way to Dawn...he had named it when he was sixteen, and it had been with him through every trial. He was heartbroken to see it go. But...he really couldn't use half a keyblade. No one could. He sighed and turned towards the portal, “Right. Let's go.”


End file.
